MULTAN: Veteran politician Javed Hashmi announced on Thursday that he would contest the general election from two constituencies in the district.

“I have decided to contest election from NA-155 (which was previously NA-149) and NA-158 (previously NA-152),” he told the media.

He said he would decide within 15 days whether he would join any political party or contest the election independently. He said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had already offered him party ticket.

Asked whether he would participate in the PML-N public gathering on May 11, he said he would do so only if he’s invited.

He alleged that the PTI was wrongly claiming that he was empowered to distribute tickets in the 2013 general election.

“The fact is Imran Khan did not issue even a single ticket on my recommendation,” he claimed.

Calling into question the accountability system of the country, Mr Hashmi hit out at the National Accountability Bureau “which is playing a role in eliminating one party”.

“The Supreme Court has several times issued adverse remarks about the performance of NAB that becomes active during the times of dictatorship. It doesn’t see a single case of corruption of Musharraf regime,” he said.

“The people who are holding the politicians accountable should also present themselves for accountability. To make the system transparent, the chief justice should also allow the judges to be held accountable...,” he said. He urged the CJP to work within the domain of the Constitution.

He said the issues of south Punjab could be solved only by creating a new province.

“We don’t want an administrative unit. Rather we want an independent federating unit. Those talking about the administrative unit are fooling people,” he said.

He said Nawab Salahuddin Abbasi and Muhammad Ali Durrani launch their campaign for Bahawalpur province just before polls.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2018